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| ==Plot==
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| [[File:H4-E3-Campaign-2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|John-117 on Requiem.]]
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| {{Quote|Set in the aftermath of [[Halo 3]], Master Chief returns to confront his own destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe. Halo 4 marks the start of a new trilogy that begins with its release in 2012.|Official summary<ref name="waypoint"/><ref name="marketplace"/>}}
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| ''Halo 4'' marks the return of [[John-117]] as a playable protagonist after three ''Halo'' games focusing on different sets of characters.<ref name="waypoint"/><ref name="marketplace"/> Having been lost in space for five years after the finale of ''Halo 3'',<ref name="gtinterview">[http://www.gametrailers.com/video/interview-story-halo-4/727566 '''Gametrailers.com''': ''Interview: Story And Vision HD'']</ref> John-117 and [[Cortana]], adrift aboard the wreckage of the aft section of the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[Charon-class light frigate|frigate]] ''[[UNSC Forward Unto Dawn|Forward Unto Dawn]]'', find themselves near [[Requiem]], the [[Forerunner]] [[Dyson sphere]] first seen in the [[Legendary]] ending of ''Halo 3''.<ref>'''[[Awakening]]'''</ref><ref name="h4panel"/><ref name="CVG">[http://www.computerandvideogames.com/328204/features/halo-4-why-the-trilogy-ends-on-next-gen/ '''Computer and Video Games''' - Halo 4: Why the trilogy ends on next-gen]</ref>
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| The story of ''Halo 4'' will be heavily focused on mystery, exploration and discovery, and has been described as being grand in scope and scale. Forerunner elements will be featured extensively, including elements in Halo 4's online multiplayer. It has also been suggested that the game will reveal how humanity and the UNSC have adapted to the post-war world, particularly how they have co-opted Forerunner technology into their military devices and assets.<ref name="h4panel"/> The former subject species of the [[Covenant Empire]] return in the game, with the supposed Sangheili allies and their former Unggoy subordinates, turned enemies, have banded together and engage with John-117 in combat.<ref name="bulletin1">[http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/03/08/The-Halo-Bulletin-30712.aspx '''Halo Official Site''': ''The Halo Bulletin: 3.07.12'']</ref><ref name="Game Informer May 2012"/> However, the Covenant are taking a backseat to an entirely new antagonist, the [[Promethean]]s,<ref name="press center">[http://press.xbox360.com/products/p51/halo-4?grp=Blockbuster+Games&event=5 '''Xbox.com''': ''Xbox Press Center - Halo 4'']</ref> which has been said to be a "threat beyond anything that Master Chief has faced before."<ref name="venture">[http://venturebeat.com/2012/03/05/11-things-learned-about-halo-4/ '''Venturebeat.com''': ''11 new things we’ve learned about Halo 4 (with video)'']</ref> The subject of Cortana's ongoing [[Rampancy]], a year beyond her ideal functional lifespan, will also be thoroughly and prominently detailed in ''Halo 4''. <ref name="HW Characters">[http://halo.xbox.com/halo4#!an-epic-universe/characters/8c164b48-05e7-4c13-a268-f60ec3a72938 '''Halo 4 Official Site:''' ''CHARACTERS'']</ref>
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| Unlike ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', ''Halo 4'' is designed to be part of a three-game arc from the beginning. In addition, 343 Industries is aiming for more complete connectivity among all of their future media than that of the original trilogy;<ref name="h4panel"/> the ''[[The Forerunner Saga|Forerunner Saga]]'' and ''[[Kilo-Five Trilogy]]'' novels,<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/Content/assets/en-us/Podcast/343Sparkast_005.mp3 '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''343 Sparkcast 005'']</ref><ref name="bulletin1"/> and the ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'' [[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|terminals]] have been stated as "definitely" having "resonant connections" to ''Halo 4'''s story.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNDQN7nwZlw&feature=related '''YouTube''': ''SDCC 2011: Halo Universe Panel Part 1'']</ref><ref name="h4panel"/> The third and final ''Forerunner Saga'' novel, with the working title of "''Silentium''", is expected to be released on January 13th, 2013. <ref name="Greg Bear Forum 532012">[http://www.gregbear.com/blog/display.cfm?id=6420 '''Greg Bear - Discussion Board''': ''Book'']</ref><ref name="Greg Bear Forum 542012">[http://www.gregbear.com/blog/display.cfm?id=6462 '''Greg Bear - Discussion Board''': ''PRIMORDIAL GRAVEMIND'']</ref> Frank O'Connor noted that ''Silentium'' will be released after ''Halo 4'' for "specific strategic reasons" likely referring to the connectivity of the game and the novel. <ref name="Bulletin 372012">[http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/03/08/The-Halo-Bulletin-30712.aspx '''Halo Waypoint''': ''The Halo Bulletin: 3.07.12'']</ref> A live action series, ''[[Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn]]'', will provide a backstory for several characters set to appear in the game; this series will consist of five episodes totaling 75 minutes. The Halo 4 Collectors Edition will include a 90 minute extended cut of the series. <ref name="Variety 4302012">[http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118053273 '''Variety.com:''' ''Halo Web series to bow before next game'']</ref>
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| ===Current synopsis===
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| Beginning approximately on July 20th, 2557 <ref name="IGN 4/7/2012"/><ref name="Game Informer May 2012">'''Game Informer''': ''May 2012''</ref>, four years and seven months after the armistice ending the [[Human-Covenant War]], a prologue cinematic will educate new players to the game and refresh fans on the events leading up to the present day. Cortana, laying silent for years, notices that the ship's intruder alarms have activated and attempts to wake John-117 from [[Cryo chamber|cryo-sleep]]. Cortana notifies him that in his sleep, she rewrote the firmware of his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor, upgrading the HUD, armor capabilities, while giving a new overall appearance. With alarms ringing and the intruders spreading to multiple decks, John slips Cortana's chip back into his neural interface and upon opening a sealed hatch, unpressurized rooms rip him from the deck and send him into the vacuum. After climbing up an elevator shaft, suddenly, a [[Sangheili]] swordsman comes charging at the Spartan supersoldier. After a brief close quarters engagement with the soldier, he kicks him down the shaft to his death. John questions the AI construct on why his once-formidable allies have attacked them, to which she has no answer. After fighting the Sangheili and their "repatriated" [[Unggoy]] subordinates, John makes his way to the aft observation deck, viewing a large [[Covenant fleet]] surrounding the ''Forward Unto Dawn'' while multiple boarding crafts dock with the heavily damaged aft section of the frigate. John and Cortana subsequently make a crash-landing on the Forerunner Dyson sphere [[Requiem]], entering the sphere via an entrance in the superstructure.<ref name="Game Informer May 2012"/>
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| Days after their arrival on Requiem,<ref name="GTTV E3 Frankie">[http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2012-halo-4/730977? '''GameTrailers.com''' ''E3 2012: Press Conference Interview]</ref><ref group="note">Frank O'Connor states that the events that transpired in their ''Halo 4'' demonstration at the E3 2012 Xbox Press Briefing took place a "''third of the way into the game.''"</ref> a Human warship, the 5.6 kilometer-long {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, entered Requiem's system and was promptly scanned by alien forces who would remotely seize its controls. The advanced warship was then dragged down into the planet through its external protective casing and proceeded to crash land. John-117 and Cortana, exploring an arid mountain area, witnessed the ship breaking through the atmosphere and fly over their position; they would detirmine that the ''Infinity'' would crash 77.8 kilometers north of their location. As the two were watching ''Infinity'' descend rapidly to the surface, a large sphere known as a [[Cryptum]], a sealed capsule for those who desired to exile themselves, uncloaked itself and presented before the Spartan and his AI companion. The Cryptum proceeded to scan the immediate landscape and John-117 as it did with the ''Infinity'', before quickly pursuing the crashing UNSC warship. <ref name="Waypoint E3 demo">[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/Universe/detail/halo-4-e3-2012-stage-demo/f9f55508-8bf8-496d-9c85-203eaf8bdcc5 '''Halo Waypoint:''' ''Halo 4 E3 2012 Stage Demo'']</ref>
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| Upon finishing the 78 kilometer journey to the ''Infinity'' crash site in a mountainous jungle, John-117 stumbled upon the Cryptum hovering high above the landscape observing the two warring factions hunt each other. The Covenant force, consisting of a [[Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft|''Banshee'']] strike fighter squadron, a section of [[Type-52 Troop Carrier|''Phantom'']] dropships, and small scattered units of Sangheili-led infantry, encircled the crashed ''Infinity'' with patrols in the surrounding area attempting to track down and kill its crew. Walking through jungle paths on their way to the ''Infinity'', John-117 was discovered by team of patrolling scouts. Quickly dispaching the team's [[Kig-yar]] and [[Unggoy]] members, the patrol's leader, an aristocratic swordsman, charged at the Spartan with his [[Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword|sword]] draw. His attempts were futile as he walked into the sights of an unknown enemy who disintegrated him sitting high atop the jungle surface. Before either of them could identify this potential ally, the person [[Slipspace translocation|translocated]] from the area. Walking further into the occupied jungle, [[Andrew Del Rio|Captain Andrew Del Rio]], commanding officer of the ''Infinity'', ordered all of the ship's [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] and [[Spartan (branch)|Spartans]] to promptly return to the crash site upon news that the enemy had entered multiple levels of the ship. Soon after, John-117 would come face-to-face with a quadrupedal and highly mobile defense construct known as the [[Promethean Crawler|Crawler]], approximately 20 of which engaged the Spartan before retreating deeper into their territory. <ref name="Waypoint E3 demo"/>
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| Pursuing these creatures at full sprint, John-117 was taken by surprise as a large bipedal creature, the [[Promethean Knight|Knight]], jumped from above the clearing and tackled him to the ground, lowering his shields. The enemy, which displays a predonimately cybernetic structure, has a skull implanted within its helmet resembling that of a [[human]] which he used to intimidate the bewildered Spartan. John-117 managed to hit the Knight in the head, releasing himself from its grasp, and stepped back ready for a close quarters fight. The Knight lunged and swung at John with his attached left-hand bland weapon knocking him down on the ground a couple meters away. Eventually after fighting the Knight, John was able to subdue his opponent, though its built-in aerial drone known as a [[Promethean Watcher|Watcher]] retreated back to warn others of his movements. Cortana, who instructed John to pick up the enemy weapon identified its design and technology as that of the [[Forerunner]], inferring that his slain enemies were the long-exiled ancient race. Venturing further into the jungle, Captain Del Rio radioed to his crew that an unknown enemy was attempting to gain access to the bridge. John then leapt into a small foggy clearance that appeared empty and upon Cortana stating that they were not alone, he activated his [[Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance|thermal vision]], discovering that he was surrounded by eight Knights, one of which tackled the Spartan to the ground and attacked him with its blade. <ref name="Waypoint E3 demo"/>
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| ==Notes==
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| <references group=note/>
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| ==Sources==
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| <references/>
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